Wayne Shorter, 1933-2023

Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter, 1960's.

The universe is mysterious. On Wednesday, I listened to Wayne Shorter’s 1965 album JuJu for the first time. I’m not sure why I hadn’t listened to it before, since I’d listened to most of Shorter’s other 1960’s albums for Blue Note. JuJu is an excellent album, full of inventive sounds and interplay. On Thursday morning, I was pondering what to listen to in the car, and I settled on Shorter’s album Speak No Evil. And then Thursday afternoon, I saw on Instagram that Shorter had passed away early Thursday morning. Strange how the universe was telling me to listen to Wayne Shorter.  

Wayne Shorter produced a lot of great music during his long career. Shorter first came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Miles Davis had wanted Shorter for his own group after John Coltrane left in 1960, but Shorter was already committed to the Jazz Messengers. Davis recorded with several other tenor saxophonists in the early 1960’s, including Hank Mobley and George Coleman. While those partnerships resulted in some excellent music, for Davis something was still lacking. In late 1964, Shorter joined Davis’s group, and the lineup of what is now called the second “classic” Miles Davis Quintet was solidified: Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums.  

Shorter contributed two songs to his first studio album with Davis, 1965’s E.S.P., the title track and the lovely ballad “Iris.” Shorter would continue to contribute many songs to the Quintet’s albums. At the same time, Shorter was recording a series of excellent solo albums for the Blue Note label: Night Dreamer, Adam’s Apple, JuJu, and Speak No Evil, to name a few. Shorter stayed with Davis longer than the other members of the classic quintet, as he remained on hand to contribute to Bitches’ Brew, and then left in order to form Weather Report with keyboardist Joe Zawinul.  

In the late 1970’s, while Weather Report was selling out stadiums and arenas, Shorter reunited with Hancock, Carter, and Williams. Adding trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, the group toured and recorded as the V.S.O.P. Quintet, and made some amazing music together. V.S.O.P.’s live albums Tempest in the Colosseum and Live Under the Sky are fantastic albums, highlighting the brilliance of these five players. Shorter and Hancock also recorded a duo album together, 1997’s 1+1, that I would recommend for fans of either musician.  

Wayne Shorter kept growing, changing, and exploring as a composer and player throughout his career and life. There can be no higher goal for a jazz musician.